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Ed'd Edited the Pelophone

November 21, 2008 - 4:35pm — matt (not verified)

About 8 years ago, a colleague of mine, Alex Goldman, mentioned a phrase. I don't recall whether he came up with it himself or exactly how he described it, but the explanation had something to do with the potential ambiguity of spoken phrases.

The phrase is, "Ed had edited it", which, if spoken quickly but not unnaturally fast, sounds more like a sound effect than a phrase.

I don't think there is a name for such a phrase; one that is so potentially unclear when spoken - one that must be spoken slowly and deliberately to be understood.

So, let me coin one, 'pelophone' from the Greek 'pelos' for 'muddy' and 'phone' for 'sound'.